BREAKING NEWS: Pearson terminated by Jasper city council

Updated 9:56 pm, Monday, June 11, 2012

Sixteen months after taking office, embattled Jasper Police Chief Rodney Pearson was terminated by Jasper's city council during a tense three-hour meeting Monday in Jasper.

Pearson, who was Jasper's first black police chief, was terminated by a vote of 4-1 with Alton Scott casting the lone vote against the termination.

"This is racism at its finest," Scott said, which drew a large reaction for the black members of the audience.

Jasper's council met in executive session for more than two hours before coming out and announcing their decision to end Pearson's reign at the Jasper Police Department. No interim police chief was named at the conclusion of the meeting.

Pearson was grilled by Jasper Mayor Mike Lout and members of the newly elected council on Jasper Police procedures during the meeting.

During that time, Pearson was questioned about different areas including hours he has put in during his tenure as police chief.

Being questioned by Johnson, Pearson said he works from "8:30 to 4:45 every day." But Johnson pointed to figures that showed that Pearson was out a number of days during the months of February through June.

Johnson also questioned the time that Capt. Curtis Frame puts in the office as well.

Lout centered his questions on if certain police procedures were followed during investigations and how come Pearson is not called out to major crime scenes.

"In the past, when we had a major crime, you would always see Chief (Todd) Hunter at the scene," Lout said. "Where are you at these scenes?"

Pearson said he is at the majority of the major crime scenes but was not called to two recent calls.

"Whose fault is that?" Lout asked.

"We are working with new dispatchers on this issue," Pearson said.

"No, its your fault," Lout said.

Pearson had recently filed an EEOC complaint against the city of Jasper but that was not mentioned during the questioning of the former police chief of Jasper.